Safety buckle



Feb. 13, 1945.

H. F. GEORGE SAFETY BUCKLE Filed Feb. 22, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet l I INVENTOR. BY (7%607? e Feb., 13, 1945. H. F. GEORGE SAFETY BUCKLE Filed Feb. 22, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Feb. 13, 1945 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE v t, T 2,369,225 r SAFETY'BUCKLE} Harry George, Chicago, Ill. 7 Application February 22, 1943, seria1 No. 476,612 f iclaims. (Cl. 24-193) This invention relates to a safety buckle, and more particularly to such buckle that will .be positive inits gripping action, is easy tooperate and one that may be quickly and easily released.

In buckle construction a heretofore practiced,

' it has been difiicult to tighten the straps to a desired degree of adjustment, or produce a sufiiciently positive grip for the straps, or quickly and easily release the buckle when speed in'such operation as required. I

, By the present invention I have produced a safety buckle havingthefabove advantages and overcoming the above difiiculties. Afurther object of myinventionis to provide a safety buckle not only adapted for general use, but especially adapted for use in aviators straps and belts, with positive holding. characteristics, and at the same time capable of instant release should such occasion arise.

Another object is to provide a buckle having part that may .be covered up for ornamental purposes, and be easily decorated by associated parts of a belt, strap or the like, or have decorations easily added thereto. A still further object is to produce a Jbuckle that is] sturdy in construction] economical to manufacture, and capable" ofbe'ing satisfactorily and efficien'tly made andus'edin, either large" or small size. y I w Another object is to provide a buckle which in use does n'ot'injure the material of the'belt or strap, does not require holes in the belt or strap, and does not cause fraying or undue wear therein. A further object is the provision of a buckle in which crimps are formed in the belt or strap, which crimps produce a positive gripping action,

ti'ally open position. v Fig. 4- is a-longitudinal vertical section through 1 my new buckle and showing thesame in closed '10 showing the belt or strap or straps in tightened position.v I v I 1 Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a safety buckle without the belt or strap, andshowing th buckle in partially open position. 7 g;

. Fig. 3 is an endelevation'of the buckle inparand fastened position, onlyfragments of adjacent I ends of the belt or strap or straps being included.

.Fig. 5 is'a longitudinal, horizontal section on the 1ine,,5'5 of Fig. 3 on an enlarged scale and showingfa fragmentary portion of the belt or, strap that' is secured to the main body portion of the buckle. v

Fig. 6 isa longitudinal, vertical section of a buckle with the parts in substantially 'the same position as in Figs. 3 and 5, and showing a porand which may alSo'be quickly and efiectively released. A still further objectis to provide such a construction that'to release the buckle all that is Fig. 1 is a perspective view 01' a safety buckle embodying my invention, and fragmentarily combina- 1 tion of the belt or strap in position therein and onlypartially crimped.. K

Fig. 7 is a view partly in longitudinal vertical section and partly in side elevation, with the buckle incompletely open position so that the belt orstrap may be quickly removed therefrom by a straight longitudinal pull. I

Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. 2, but showing a modified form of means for fastening the swinging arm to themain body portion.

, Fig.,9l is a fragmentary, vertical, transverse section through the fastening projection; and recess of the, form shown in Fig. 8, but with the parts in closedposition. I

.Fig. 10 is a perspective, sectional view, onf'an enlarged scale, of one of the crimping bars, i

Referring: indetail to the drawings, my new buckle isshown in Figs. 1 to '7 to comprises. main body'portion l and a pairof swinging arms} rigidly connected together by having at their larger end two symmetrically arranged. non-circular openings 3 and 4, separated by a cross bar 5', as

" seen in Fig. 3, there being inserted'in said..non-

circular openings (one ineach'lj-the correspondingly shaped ends 6 and! of the spaced apart bars 8 and 9, the large ends of arms 2 being respectively fastened in place onthefen'ds of bars 8 and 9 by cap disks lll secured tightly in placethereon by screws ll, which are screwed into threaded openings in the ends of bars 8'and 9 as the ends of the securely spacedapart bars 8 and 8 i sitie j has; i9 r9 messes...

in the circular openings l3 in the larger ends of side. bars 12 as seen in Fig. 5. The'construction just described. is the same at both ends of the bars 8 and 9;

In addition tothe side bars l2 the body portion I further comprises the plate l4, integral with the side bars or not, as desired. Secured to the rear end of. plate, 14 by'rivets or other suitable fastening means l5 are the two spaced flanges I6 and ll of the hollow cylinder 3, the open ends of vvhich-gylihderiare snuglypositioned in. side 'ofthe inner side faces of the large ends of side bars I2 as seen in Figs. 1, 2 and 5. It will be seen in Figs. 4, 5, 6 and '7 that the interiojr: diameter of cylinder I8 is larger than the exterior, diameter of the rigidly spaced bars 8 and '9 'byi' rwmchinstantly releases the toes 3'Lfrom pins 3| seen in Fig. 1.

an amount to receive the 'crimped port-5.011s 5 one end S the belt or strap sufficiently freely, to permit the same to be crimpe'd' therebetwee'n" when the rigidly spacedbars 8 and 9 aneeptatedin one direction (toward the closed pQsition) by movement of the swingab le arms 2; and to permit the crimpedportion of the belt or strap tube backed up and returned to the position shown when't-he' arms 2 are swung to open position;

' It should also be pointed outthat the opposite fprward and rear walls of the "cylinder "l8 arefe; m'ecl wit elong ted slots l9 "andlil which are substantially exaetly opposite each other to per it s and space are in registry, a p g; W: t this time the arms: have be nsw n b s iwerdlv 1111111115116 S e or she 0n, he bod on, s t do w n the segment with" v nee depression d and othe rear of teeth 25 to 'causefthe teeth to Operate more e'fiectiv'ely.

,While only one end is shown fragmentarily in Fi Q, i 7 b un stood hatfbu hen s o en e e s ar s: sirr'i'ila'r construction. 3 f Also thefportions ofv bars 18' andfacontactin'gthe beltfduring "tightening e e atiomm y be formed with, paralleli g'rooves 21; tq vlde ridges 28 (see. Figs,v 4, 6-. "a f l 7)"'to further iacili'tate the rippi cti 'Q th' b l [The plate 14 is, formed w h a lat rally ex ending slot :29. through wh'ieh passes the other end Stof the "belt or 'Str'a'PLWhichis doubled back pon t el a i i' es ened' q r b i s R or other suitable. fastening means-as D nd r s eed-f n Fi i Theireeend of each or the swingable arms'Z fs fa n d with a r c l i' fl ada ted o re ive the outwardly extending 'pin' 3l ."f orrned with a he 32.wl, he arm a e swun m los Re ime? the belt or strap to pass there-through and I v V "I (as show-niinFig. 34); and'at theot'her endto' 2,369,225 .i.'t.; ii

in'closed position, each of these arms has pivoted thereto just to the rear of the recess 30 by pins 33 flanges 34 of a cross bar or latch 35. Each of flanges 34 is formed with a recess 36 in such fectedby the operator grasping the free end X- .of thebelt or strap S with his hand and pulling upwardl on the same as viewed in Figs. 1 and 4 andswings arms .2 to the position shown in Fig.

Tat which time the belt or strap is free to slide through the registering slots I9, 20 and 2| and out to release the buckle and belt from each other; l v j,

The structure just described-is usable 'in any capacity large or small, -s1'J.cl-1 '"a-s' for watch wrist bands, trunk strapslapparl belts, aviation, and

for any other put-Dossier whichsuch'b'uck le is the seat, back or "other sup-port in 'the'airplane,

' and the other strap being secured at one end to ders'QZjth'ereon have contacted the stationary theseat,-back or other support; and at the other end rel'eas'ably fastened in the buckle :as "described "Should the person wearing such buckle in the airplane, require to be 'duicklyreleased; 'all he has to do is to grasp the free'en'cl'X of the belt wardly away from the buckleto theposition shown in Fig. "7 and heisifreebecause the belt or strap will then quicklygslide out of the buckle. The upwardpull on end XLof the belt or strap,

' will swin fhe latch banf35 and toe'3'l to the po- T 11, s own in E8512, 3, "6,; and *Z and rreet'h'e toejfrcm pin 31 As soon as the arms '2 are rnov'ed to the closed "position; the operatorwill, with his fingers, move the latch 35 from the position shown'in Fig. '3 to the. positionshown in Fig. 4

which looks the'buckle untilthe'flatch is again movedupwardly tof'ree toe 31 "from'pin 3']. v

J Figs. 3 and 'Qfare shown ag'modifiiedform'of In n's forrelea'sably. latching the arms '2' to the sidebars f2". "Intmsrcrmtne 'l'atcli'plate 3'5 and toe '3T'are' dispensed' with and there is formed on the inner face of the free end of each of arms 2'a protuberance. 4-il (preferably pressed inwardly from theoutside');andthere formed. on theouter face of the free ends of the structure and -oper-ationbr the buckle is the same as in thefirstdescribed formx.

Aswill' be 'understood'the -free end' oft-hebelt or strap, when the arms st'a'ndin the position shown in Fig. 7-, may readily be ushed "through belt or' strap is pulled "through the bucklev to the desi demo. ,0. the. arms 2.,

754 011 d ih' .tatably mounted in mentation may be readily applied to the outer face of the latch plate 35.- I I In the present invention the belt is held in l the buckle frictionally against the inner face'oi the cylinder l8 by a plurality of releasable crimps and this furnishes a very eflicient snubbing action.

Having described my invention, I claim: 1. In a buckle, in combination, a relatively stationary body portion having a non-rotatable hollow cylindrical member formed in its sides with oppositely positioned slots, a member rosaid body portion and having an elongated open-sided slot therein, an arm on each end of the rotatable member and fixed thereto to rotate said member, and a latch plate pivotally mounted at its ends to said arms, and a strap adapted to be freely passed through all of said'slots when the slots are in lateral registry and to be crimped when the slot of the rotatable member is out of lateral registry with the slots in the hollow cylindrical member.

2. In abuckle, in combination, a relatively stationary body portion having a non-rotatable hollow cylindrical memberformed in its sides with oppositely positioned solts, a member ro tatably mounted in said body portion and having an elongated open-sided slot therein, an arm on each end of the rotatable member and fixed thereto to rotate-said member, and a latch plate pivotally mounted at its ends to said arms, and means on said latch plate for releasably locking the arms to the body portion when the arms are moved thereagainst to crimp a strap passing to freely release the strap through said slot and when the strap is pulled laterally against the latch plate.

3. In a buckle adapted to releasably hold in adapted to receive therethrough a strap to be tightened position a belt, strap and the like, in

combination, a relatively stationary body por tion having fixed thereto a hollow cylinder hav-.

ing a slot in each of its oppositely positioned side walls, a tightening member rotatably mounted in said body portion and having an elongated, open-sided slot therein, said tighteningmember having fixedthereto at each end anarm, a latch bar pivotally mounted to,each of said arms, said latch bar having means for releasably locking the arms to the body portion when the arms are moved close to the belt, strap and the like with the latch bar substantially parallel With the adjacent portion of the belt, strap and the like, and the latter crimped in the tightening member and cylindenthe buckle being instantly releasable by an outward pull upon the adjacent extending free end of the belt, strap and the like. 4. In a buckle adapted to releasably hold in tightened position a belt, strap and the like.

portion having a non-rotaable hollow cylindrical member formed in its sides with oppositely positioned slots, a rotatable tightening member crimped when tightened and uncrimped when the buckle is loose, an arm fixed to sadi rotatable tightening member, the strap being crimped in the cylindrical member when the arm is moved close to the stationary portion, said arm having latch means for releasably locking the arm to the stationary portion, the strap having a, free end extending beyond the free end of the arm, whereby the operator may grasp the free end of the strap and by an outward pull instantly re-, lease the strap from the buckle, said latch means and stationary portion having interlocking elements that are interlocked when the "strap is close to the stationary portion and are disengaged by said outward pull on the end of the strap. t

HARRY F. GEORGE. 

